2013 Chesley Award Nominations

The Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists have announced the nominees for the 2013 Chesley Awards. The Chesley Awards were established in 1985 as ASFA's peer awards to recognize individual works and achievements not otherwise recognized by the Hugo Awards, during a given year and are named in honor of famed astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell. This year’s ceremony will take place at the 71st World Science Fiction convention, LoneStarCon 3, in San Antonio, TX, August 29th - September 2nd.

This year, Pyr is delighted to be represented on the ballot five times!

•  2013 Chesley Award for Best Cover Illustration, Paperback, nominee: Dehong He, Lance of Earth and Sky

 

•  2013 Chesley Award for Best Cover Illustration, Paperback, nominee: Todd Lockwood, The Dusk Watchman

 

• 2013 Chesley Award for Best Cover Illustration, Paperback, nominee: John Picacio, The Creative Fire

 

•  2013 Chesley Award for Best Cover Illustration, Hardback, nominee: Sam Weber, Quantum Coin

 

• 2013 Chesley Award for Best Art Director, nominee: Lou Anders

Here is the full list. Congratulations to all the nominees:

Best Cover Illustration: Paperback Book

• Dehong He: Lance of Earth and Sky by Erin Hoffman, Pyr, April 2012
• Todd Lockwood: The Dusk Watchman by Tom Lloyd, Pyr, August 2012
• John Jude Palencar: The Palencar Project edited by David G. Hartwell, Tor ebook, February 2012
• John Picacio: The Creative Fire by Brenda Cooper, Pyr, November 2012
• Elena Vizerskaya: Flying in the Heart of the Lafayette Escadrille by James Van Pelt, Fairwood Press, November 2012

Best Cover Illustration: Hardback Book

• J.K. Drummond: Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson, Subterranean Press, March 2012
• Bob Eggleton: Gods of Opar by Philip José Farmer & Christopher Paul Carey, Subterranean Press, June 2012
• Donato Giancola: Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear, Tor, March 2012
• Todd Lockwood: The Wild Road by Jennifer Roberson, DAW, September 2012
• John Picacio: Hyperion by Dan Simmons, Subterranean Press, April 2012
• Sam Weber: Quantum Coin by E. C. Myers, Pyr, October 2012

Best Cover Illustration: Magazine

• Ken Barthelmey: Clarkesworld #74 November 2012
• Julie Dillon: Clarkesworld #73 October 2012
• Bob Eggleton: Famous Masters of Filmland #262 July/August 2012
• Martin Faragasso: Clarkesworld #71 August 2012
• David Palumbo: Creepy #9 Dark Horse, July 2012
• Craig J. Spearing: Dragon #418 December 2012

Best Interior Illustration

• Brom: Krampus by Brom Harper, Voyager, Oct. 2012
• Sam Burley: “Brother. Prince. Snake.” by Cecil Castellucci, Tor.com, July 2012
• J. K. Drummond: Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson, Subterranean Press, Mar. 2012
• Bob Eggleton: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, MBI/Easton Press, Dec. 2012
• William O'Connor: Dracopedia The Great Dragons: An Artist's Field Guide and Drawing Journal by William O'Connor, Impact, June 2012

Best Monochrome: Unpublished

• Larry Elmore: “By the River,” oil
• Travis Lewis: “Deep,” oil & mixed media
• Joāo Ruas “Sides,” graphite
• Raoul Vitale: “Last of His Kind,” pencil
• Allen Williams: “Fawn,” graphite

Best Color Work: Unpublished

• Julie Bell: “A Passion for the Future,” oil
• Donato Giancola: “Joan of Arc,” oil
• Lucas Graciano: “Guardianship,” oil
• Michael C. Hayes: “Procession,” oil
• Mark Poole: “Waiting on a Memory,” oil
• Soutchay Sougpradith: “Peacock Prophecy,” oil
• Raoul Vitale: “Safe,” oil

Best Three-Dimensional Art

• Dan Chudzinski: “Gus Gets a Jetpack,” mixed
• Michael Defeo: “Octopus,” resin
• David Meng: “Sashimi,” mixed
• Michael Parkes: “Startled Sky Nymph,” half life-size bronze
• James Shoop: “Ramautar,” bronze
• Vincent Villafranca: “Spaceman on the Verge,” bronze
• Cindy Wynn: “Alien Chair,” steel

Best Gaming-Related Illustration

• Lucas Graciano: “Dragon Swarm” (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Artifacts & Legends) Paizo, October 2012
• D. Alexander Gregory: “Chandra the Firebrand” (2013 Core Set Magic card) WotC, July 2012
• David Palumbo: “Ereshkigal, Death Mistress” (“Legend of the Cryptids”) Applibot Inc., April 2012
• James Ryman: “Princess of the Underworld,” (“Legend of the Cryptids”) Applibot Inc., April 2012
•  Sverlin Velinov: “Thundermaw Hellkite” (2013 Core Set Magic card) Wizards of the Coast, July 2012

Best Product Illustration

• Jim Burns: “The Wanderers” (IlluXCon 5 promotional art) Munchkin Press, November 2012
• Dan Dos Santos: “The Dragon Empress” (Dragon*Con promotional poster) August, 2012
• John Harris: “The Search” (Illuxcon 5 promotional art) Munchkin Press, Nov. 2012
• Iain McCaig: Concept and character design for John Carter, Disney, March 2012
• John Picacio: La Sirena Loteria card 2012

Best Art Director

• Lou Anders for Pyr Books
• Irene Gallo for Tor
• Lauren Panepinto for Orbit Books
• William Schafer for Subterranean Press
• Jon Schindehette for Wizards of the Coast

Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement

• Brom
• Larry Elmore
• David Hardy
•  John Harris
• Gary Lippincott

2011 Chesley Award Finalists

ASFA, the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, have announced the 2011 Chesley Award Finalists. I'm thrilled to be nominated for a fourth time in the category of Best Art Director (I won in 2009), and equally happy to see two Pyr cover illustrations make the list. Congratulations to Todd Lockwood for his nomination for the cover for Tom LLoyd's The Ragged Man and to Stephan Martiniere for his nomination for the cover illustration for Ian McDonald's Ares Express. Both are in the category of Best Paperback. And congratulations to all the nominees. Please follow the link above and check out all the amazing work.

Two More Hugos, a Gemmell, the PKD, and more.

Obviously, we're pretty excited about the 2010 Hugo Awards shortlist. Ian McDonald's The Dervish House makes the list of finalists for Best Novel, and yours truly (Lou Anders) makes my fifth appearance in the category of Best Editor - Long Form.

This news follows right on the heels of Mark Hodder's Philip K. Dick Award win for The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack.

Meanwhile, just announced is the the publication of the short list for the David Gemmell Award. Congratulations to Pierre Pevel, whose novel The Alchemist in the Shadows, originally published by Gollancz and just out from Pyr, is nominated for the Legend Award - Best Fantasy Novel, and to Todd Lockwood, whose cover for the Pyr edition of Tom Lloyd's The Ragged Man is up for the Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Art Cover.

Finally, congratulations again to Ian McDonald for his BSFA win for The Dervish House for Best Novel.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: The Ragged Man (Full Cover)

The Ragged Man © Tom Lloyd

Cover Illustration © Todd Lockwood
Design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger

Coming from Pyr in August

Lord Isak is dead; his armies and entire tribe in disarray. As the Farlan retreat and Kastan Styrax mourns his dead son, it is King Emin who takes the initiative while he still can. The secret, savage war he has devoted his life to nears its terrible conclusion as Ruhen positions himself as answer to the Land's problems. Before the conquering eye of the Menin turns in his direction Emin must take his chance and strike without mercy.

A showdown is coming and battle lines are drawn as blood is spilled across the Land. The specter of the Great War looms but this time the Gods are not marching to war. It will be men who decide the future now. But before victory, before survival, there must first be salvation—even if it must be sought in the darkest place imaginable.

With the tide turning against Emin and his allies the key to their survival may lie in the hands of a dead man.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: The Ragged Man (Front Cover)

The Ragged Man © Tom Lloyd

Cover Illustration © Todd Lockwood
Design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger

 

Coming from Pyr in August

Lord Isak is dead; his armies and entire tribe in disarray. As the Farlan retreat and Kastan Styrax mourns his dead son, it is King Emin who takes the initiative while he still can. The secret, savage war he has devoted his life to nears its terrible conclusion as Ruhen positions himself as answer to the Land's problems. Before the conquering eye of the Menin turns in his direction Emin must take his chance and strike without mercy.

A showdown is coming and battle lines are drawn as blood is spilled across the Land. The specter of the Great War looms but this time the Gods are not marching to war. It will be men who decide the future now. But before victory, before survival, there must first be salvation—even if it must be sought in the darkest place imaginable.

With the tide turning against Emin and his allies the key to their survival may lie in the hands of a dead man.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: A Revised Version of Tom Lloyd's The Grave Thief

The Grave Thief© Tom Lloyd

Cover Illustration © Todd Lockwood
Design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger

We do listen to feedback.
A different crop of the art, a new type treatment, and voila!

And the full cover:

2009 Chesley Award Nominations

The 2009 Chesley Award Nominations are up.

And I am very pleased to announce that we have no less than 3 book covers up for awards.

In the hardcover category: Dan Dos Santos is up for his cover for Mike Resnick's Stalking the Vampire (wonderful design by Nicole Sommer-Lecht).

And for paperback: Todd Lockwood is up for his cover for Tom Lloyd's The Stormcaller (wonderful design by Grace Conti-Zilsberger ), while John Picacio is also up for his cover for my anthology, Fast Forward 2 (wonderful design by Jaqueline Cooke)

Of lesser interest, and a testament to the wonderful illustrators and in-house designers we have on our covers, I am also on the ballot. More important, I think, is that in a field that may produce 1000 original covers in a year, we have a whoppin' three Pyr books in the list.

Also, it should be pointed out, our pal John Picacio is nominated in FOUR CATEGORIES!!!

Check out his beautiful black&white artwork for interior illustration here (from Del Rey's Elric: The Stealer of Souls):

"The Chesley Awards were established in 1985 as ASFA's peer awards to recognize individual works and achievements during a given year. The Chesleys were initially called the ASFA Awards, but were later renamed to honor famed astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell after his death in 1986. The awards are presented annually at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon)."

Congratulations to all the nominees, and to the authors who are so lucky to have such wonderful art! I have always maintained that the history of SF&F illustration that we enjoy is a unique assetof our genre that should be celebrated, so this is very rewarding to see.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: The Grave Thief

The Grave Thief© Tom Lloyd

Cover Illustration © Todd Lockwood
Design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger

Tom Lloyd's The Twilight Herald

Tom Lloyd's The Twilight Herald

Art by Todd Lockwood
Design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger

Todd Lockwood's The Stormcaller, From Sketch to Finish

Over on Tor.com, art director Irene Gallo has just posted "Todd Lockwood's Stormcaller, from Sketch to Finish" a very in-depth breakdown of the evolution of the cover for our forthcoming title, The Stormcaller: Book One of the Twilight Reign,by Tom Lloyd. With quotes from Yours Truly and a LOT of commentary from Lockwood himself, and 20 different sketches, roughs and detailed close-ups, the post is well worth checking out.